Sagezilla's Six

It's so hard
to believe
my baby girl
is
six years old
already!




















Five was

losing her first two baby teeth
Kindergarten
learning to read and write
riding a two wheeler with training wheels
finally outgrowing the 3T outfits
shimmying up traffic sign poles with ease






Six is

mystery and mastery
that huge leap up to the
Montessori 1st-3rd grade combined classroom
skinned knees
and skateboard ramps
competitive gymnastic training
her big front tooth comin' down fast
childlike wisdom
and magical backyard potions
????

When her older brother, Du-Jay, turned 6, his physical and mental leaps were astounding. There are so many kids activities and events that say 6 and up. And there's a reason.

First grade was the year he grew from 5T to size 8 over the school year and cranked through 4 shoe sizes! First grade was the year he finished on nearly 6th grade reading level.

Six is that definitive line between big kid and little kid. "I can do it by myself!", screamed and followed by a big flurkin' snark out, will hopefully morph into a calm and confident, "I can handle it."

This year, instead of one giant birthday party for the whole preschool and every kid we've ever known, like Sage's Stupendous Seuss Soiree for her 5th birthday, she wanted to take a few families camping in Wisconsin.

We're still working out the logistics, but love the simplistic, rustic charm of the idea. So often, less really is more. In the meantime, she has had a number of smaller family celebrations with two sets of grandparents, cousins, her school class and our immediate family.

My cousin and her twin daughters from China, gave her a surprise party at their home in the burbs. It began as a fancy tea party fit for a princess, complete with pink crown and tiered pastry plates.









Then my darling daughter, with the wild streak and artist's soul, showed her true colors.......................

On her actual birthday,
she had candles in a chocolate croissant,
family prezzys
and classroom cupcakes.

In Montessori pre-K/ Kindergarten classrooms, they have a lovely ritual where the birthday child takes the earth and circles around a candle, signify the sun. The child then stops at his/her birthdate.

The class sometimes sings "The Earth Goes Around The Sun" song.
And each circuit the child
is symbolically one year older
and gets to stop and talk
about themselves at that age.






In Zilla's class this year,
families were asked to make a timeline
with photos and brief descriptions
of the birthday kid's life from birth on up.









So, happy happy sixth birthday, my May Night Sage. May your 6th year be full of many wonderful adventures.